1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a postpartum supporting apparatus for supporting a woman for successful restoration of body condition after childbirth. The words xe2x80x9cbody conditionxe2x80x9d, as used herein, means body weight condition, body fat condition, and the like.
2. Prior Art
In general, the body condition for a woman significantly changes throughout the period of pregnancy from its initial stage to the final stage or childbirth, and thereafter, the woman gradually restores to the original body condition as was before the pregnancy. If restoration of the body condition after childbirth is not good it means that the health of the woman is adversely affected. For example, it may happen that the woman develops gestosis or have difficult delivery at the time of next pregnancy. Otherwise, the woman may suffer from any abnormal of fecundity, any malfunction of ovulation and any adult disease. Therefore, there is a need for precisely determining whether the progress of restoration of the body condition after childbirth is good or not and, if not, rapidly providing certain treatments accordingly.
A patent application has been filed, entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Judging Recovery of Physical Condition in Puerperiumxe2x80x9d (see TOKUGANHEI No. 11-250650). According to this patent application the physical condition is taken as the body condition and bioelectrical impedance characteristic is used as an index of the physical condition. Then, an evaluation about the restoration of physical condition after childbirth is performed depending upon change in bioelectrical impedance characteristics as measured after childbirth, or upon the result of comparison of bioelectrical impedance characteristics as measured before pregnancy or at the initial stage of pregnancy and after childbirth.
However, if the change in bioelectrical impedance characteristics is used for the evaluation, it can be determined that the physical condition tends to be restored, but it is not sure that the progress of restoration of physical condition is good or not. On the other hand, if the result of comparison of bioelectrical impedance characteristics as measured before pregnancy or at the initial stage of pregnancy and after childbirth is used for the evaluation, how about the progress of restoration of physical condition relative to that before pregnancy or at the initial stage of pregnancy can be known, but it is also not sure that the progress of restoration of physical condition is good or not.
In view of the above, the present invention aims at reliably making decision of whether the progress of restoration of the body condition after childbirth is good or not. This is achieved, according to the present invention, by providing a postpartum supporting apparatus for outputting reference data that is used to compare with postpartum measurement data representing an index of body condition after childbirth for determining whether the progress of restoration of the body condition after childbirth is good or not; and by providing a postpartum supporting apparatus for comparing such measurement data with the reference data and for outputting the result of the comparison.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a postpartum supporting apparatus, comprising a storage unit and an output unit, whereby, the storage unit stores reference data that is used to compare with postpartum measurement data representing an index of body condition after childbirth for determining whether the progress of restoration of the body condition after childbirth is good or not, and said output unit outputs said reference data in order to compare with the postpartum measurement data representing the index of body condition after childbirth. The apparatus further comprises a measurement data input unit. The measurement data input unit inputs the postpartum measurement data representing the index of body condition after childbirth, and said output unit further outputs such postpartum measurement data. The reference data is formed for each of factors affecting the restoration of body condition. The apparatus further comprises a factor data input unit and a selection unit. The factor data input unit inputs the factor data for a user and the selection unit selects any one of the reference data based on the input factor data. The output unit outputs the selected reference data.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a postpartum supporting apparatus, comprising: a measurement data input unit; a storage unit; a comparator unit; and an output unit, whereby, the measurement data input unit inputs postpartum measurement data representing an index of body condition after childbirth, the storage unit stores reference data that is used to compare with the measurement data for determining whether the progress of restoration of the body condition after childbirth is good or not, the comparator unit compares the measurement data with the reference data, and the output unit outputs the result of said comparison. The result of comparison may be the difference between the measurement data and the reference data. The storage unit further stores advice information useful for guiding the restoration of body condition after childbirth according to the result of the comparison; the comparator unit further selects the advice information based on the result of the comparison; and the output unit outputs at least the selected advice information. The reference data is formed for each of factors affecting the restoration of body condition. The apparatus further comprises a factor data input unit and a selection unit. The factor data input unit inputs the factor data for a user and the selection unit selects any one of the reference data based on the input factor data. The comparator unit compares the selected reference data with the measurement data.
The measurement data input unit may be at least either one of a measurement unit for measuring the index of the body condition and a user input unit for inputting by a user. The factor data input unit may be at least either one of a measurement unit for measuring the factor data and a user input unit for inputting by a user. The body condition may be body weight condition or body fat condition. The factor affecting the body condition may be at least either one of a body weight increase during the period of pregnancy, a manner of lactation and an age of a user. The reference data may be defined as the value representing good body condition at some points in time after childbirth.